Two more tarpons entered on Day 2 of rodeo

Friday

Jul 25, 2014 at 10:00 PMJul 25, 2014 at 10:04 PM

GRAND ISLE — The final hour of action at the Sand Dollar Marina scales on Friday night was slow, but the highlight of Day 2 at the 94th annual International Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo was turned in by someone very familiar with speed.

Kelly McElroyStaff Writer

GRAND ISLE — The final hour of action at the Sand Dollar Marina scales on Friday night was slow, but the highlight of Day 2 at the 94th annual International Grand Isle Tarpon Rodeo was turned in by someone very familiar with speed.Grant Lynch, the chairman of the Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, brought in a 138-pound, 4-ounce tarpon to take the lead in the category around 9:30 a.m. Friday. Talladega Superspeedway hosts one the most popular NASCAR races each year. Lynch and his boat mate Jerry McEwen of Memphis, Tennessee, hooked tarpons at the same time while fishing with local angler Lance "Coon" Schouest. McEwen's fish is second at 119-12, followed by Kurt Cheramie of Houma at 99-6 and Travis Landry of Thibodaux at 87-14.Hunter Tieken and Luke Kinnard of "Code 7" and Steven Heir and Michael Heir of "Splash Zone" are also on the board with tarpons that were tagged and released.Rodeo weigh master Martin Bourgeois said the action on Friday came in "pulses" as anglers fought off a west wind to nearly fill the board heading into today's final day of action. Scales close at 6 p.m. at Sand Dollar Marina."I overheard (Lynch) say it was the most exciting fishing moment he has ever had," Bourgeois said. "The board is pretty well established heading into (today). We are lacking in wahoo and a few inside fish, but we expect those to fill up, and we expect a lot of bumping. We have already seen a couple of the big boats heading out."Bourgeois pointed to the redfish category as another highlight on Friday. Wilton Comardelle III of Paradis leads the redfish category at 40-14, followed by Michael Keegan of Destrehan at 37-12 and Jimmy Ledet of Cut Off at 35-8.Offshore, a little wind on Friday didn't stop Hays Harmon of St. Charles Parish from taking home an 84-2 yellowfin tuna that leads the category heading into the final day."It was a little choppy, about 2-4 foot seas, but not too bad," Harmon said. "It laid down once the day progressed."Harmon said the yellowfin was caught on a live hard tail with a 20-ounce weight in around 150 feet of water.Fishing her first Grand Isle Tarpon rodeo, Shara Mayers of Lafayette brought in the second-place barracuda at 21-4. She trails James Holt of Morgan City. He leads the category at 29-0."Surprising," she said of making the board. "It was hot and the beers were cold, and the guys on the boat were great."Bourgeois also said he was impressed with the cobia brought in on Friday.Bradley Rispone of Central brought in the top cobia of the rodeo so far at 51-14. He knocked Caden Comardelle into second place at 51-04.Rispone said fishing an area offshore rig, he and his boat mates saw the fish as they approached and threw pogies in its path. "We fish this every year, and we were fishing the 40s or the 50s," Rispone said. "This was the first time I made the board, and I'm excited. When we pulled up on the rig, we saw it. It was just sitting out there. We threw right in its path, and it hit it. We actually got two hooks in it."Rispone and other anglers will be looking for even bigger catches today, but he said if his cobia simply makes the final board, he will be happy."We are going to go out again (today), and hopefully we can catch an even bigger one," Rispone, "but even third place would be great."